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C Greg Oden (All B1G, All-American, Defensive Player of the Year, Butler Assistant Coach)

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6/28/06

Age rule looks like good fit for league

By Michael Rothstein

The Journal Gazette

The obvious draft pick from Indiana won’t have that opportunity today, unable to be in New York City, walk up to the podium and shake David Stern’s hand.

It wasn’t left to his choice, either.

Lawrence North graduate Greg Oden will instead be in Columbus, Ohio, preparing for future trips to Champaign, Ill., and East Lansing, Mich., as a freshman playing for Thad Matta at Ohio State instead of Scott Skiles in Chicago or another NBA team possessing a high draft pick.

The NBA instituted a new age requirement for its draft before the beginning of the 2005-06 season, removing the opportunity to be the next Kevin Garnett or Kobe Bryant or Jermaine O’Neal for guys such as Oden. Now, all eligible draftees must be at least one year out of high school and at least 19 years old.

“You are dealing with more known commodities now,” said Donnie Walsh, Indiana Pacers CEO and president. “Players who have been coached. You are not relying on potential. It’s a little more certain, I think.”

Since 1995, when the Minnesota Timberwolves drafted Garnett, high school students have been a staple for NBA drafts with mixed results. The modern era of high school jumpers had 38 parachuting from proms to pros, its most notable successes Garnett, Bryant, Amare Stoudamire and LeBron James.

Then there have been the mediocre, such as Darius Miles, Tyson Chandler and former No. 1 pick Kwame Brown. Those, though, have been the names you remember.

Guys such as Ousmane Cisse, Ndudi Ebi, James Lang and Leon Smith also finished high school and tried to play professionally. None are currently in the NBA.

“It is a big difference with removing the high school kids and in my personal opinion it is an excellent rule,” said Jeff Nix, New York Knicks director of scouting. “In our league, it is tough enough for these kids to come in and compete physically but the mental aspect is even tougher.

“It’s better if they stay away for a year or two.”

This is what the rule does. It makes players more seasoned and gives professional teams a better idea of the players they are about to welcome into their companies. This is, after all, a business – one based so much on the decisions made off the court that put together the players on the court.

Now scouts and others in NBA front offices can stay away from sitting on wooden bleachers with tens of fans watching the next could-be-big high school kid. They can go back to being in college arenas, dealing with high-level coaches and being able to watch potential prospects on television more than an occasional ESPN high school game. Plus, it lessens the pressure for teams to draft off hype instead of proven statistics.

“No high school gyms, which is great,” Nix said. “I’ve always been a big proponent of staying out of the high school gyms. There will be exceptions with the Kobe’s and the LeBron’s, but we got kids who got bad advice and made bad decisions.

“It’s best the way it is right now.”

It sent Oden to Ohio State, where he declined an interview request through an e-mail because of an Ohio State policy not allowing freshmen to speak until after they’ve played in their first game.

While Oden won’t go today, three Indiana prospects might.

Neither Indiana’s Marco Killingsworth nor Notre Dame’s Torin Francis and Chris Quinn are locks to be drafted this evening.

They are the closest Indiana has to a college-produced talent this season. Mock drafts suggest the highest any of the three will go is in the middle of the second round.

“Some people say it’s better not to get drafted,” Quinn said. “Regardless, I’ll have the opportunity to play on a summer league team and have a lot more opportunities to show people I can play.”

He did that last season at Notre Dame, where the Irish endured a season of close losses – something NBA scouts mentioned often when working him out. He said that the season will be with him “forever.”

Quinn worked out for Boston, Cleveland, Houston, Indiana, New York, Sacramento and both the Lakers and Clippers.

“I think I’ve got a shot at getting drafted but I could not as well,” Quinn said from his home in Dublin, Ohio, where he’ll watch the draft. “I don’t have too high of expectations. I’m just excited to take another step in my life and see what happens from here.”

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GregOden.com

NBA Draft - "Minimum age draft rule unfair" says Greg Oden

The minimum age draft rule means elite prospects no longer can jump directly to the NBA and most of them don’t like it.

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After Amare Stoudemire was the only player drafted out of high school in 2002, five players went preps-to-pros in 2003. The a record-setting eight high schoolers were selected in the first round in 2004, which also marked the third time in four years that a prep player was the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft (Kwame Brown in 2001, LeBron James in 03’ and Dwight Howard in 04’).

Despite the success preps-to-pros players have experienced, basketball purists cried that something had to be done. NBA commissioner David Stern agreed.

So when the NBA and its players association negotiated a new collective bargaining agreement this past summer, Stern got his way, and an age minimum was instituted. Beginning in 2006, a player must be 19 and one year removed from high school before he ca be drafted.

In the 2005 draft, the last to allow the preps-to-pros jump, a record nine high school players were taken, but only three went in the first round.

Ten years after Kevin Garnett ushered in the modern preps-to-pros craze in 1995, an era was over. Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady were all produced in that era. It was an era that had an incredible impact not only the NBA but on college and high school basketball.

Over and over, this issue is weighed in about whether the new rule is positive or negative many have debated its potential impact and countless other angles. But how do high school players feel about having the straight-to-the-NBA option taken away? Most aren’t fans of the decision.

Some criticize the NBA for setting the age at 19 when its initial hope was for an age minimum of 20 that likely would have had greater impact. Others say the “19 and one year removed from high school” phrasing is confusing and strange.
College as an “option” probably isn’t what Stern envisioned with the age minimum. And colleges will have to decide whether to extend scholarships to players who might be one-and-done.

There are plenty of prep players who see the wisdom behind the NBA’s thinking, even if they don’t agree with it.
The three prep players taken in the first round receive guaranteed contracts, but the other six must fight for roster spots. Not exactly the glamorous life they sought.

Brentwood (Tenn.) Academy senior forward Brandan Wright, a top five recruit in the Class of 2006, says he was thinking about going straight to the pros but doesn’t believe the age minimum is a bad thing. “It may hurt gus who need the money,” he says, “but it will help people grow and develop.”

Lawrence North (Indianapolis) senior center Greg Oden surely would have been the No. 1 pick in the 2006 draft if not for the new rule.

“It’s unfair,” Greg Oden says. “But it’s over with now, so there’s no reason to complain.”
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He's gone after one year. Millions or play another season. I had some set jobs once I graduated but , after one year if I had the same jobs I would have been gone.

I hope he goes because, he'll fit right in better then dwight howard did and OSU will be held as his college home for years on TV and free up space for Frease
 
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Buckeyes hoping to have Oden for UNC game

By Andrew Skwara, Rivals.com College Basketball Staff Writer
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Note to North Carolina fans: Don't stop dreaming up ways to rattle Greg Oden just yet.
The Indianapolis Star reported that the 7-foot prep phenom, who signed with Ohio State in the fall, is expected to be out for six months after surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right wrist last week. That would put him back around mid-December, after the highly anticipated meeting between Ohio State and North Carolina on Nov. 29 in Chapel Hill – the marquee event of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Tar Heels and Buckeyes reeled in Rivals.com's No. 1 and No. 2-ranked recruiting classes this year and are expected to be ranked in the preseason top 10.
Oden hasn't spoken publicly since the surgery, but one of the people who knows him best said it's possible he could be playing against the Tar Heels.
"The six months is a rough guess," said longtime Lawrence North High assistant coach Ralph Scott, who worked with Oden for the last four years. "It really depends on how (the wrist) heals and progresses. Greg is such a strong kid and this is the first time he has ever been injured seriously. His spirits are still very high and if his rehab goes well he may very well be back in time for the UNC game."
The surgery came as a surprise to many. Oden played in the McDonald's All-American game on Mar. 29 without showing any sign of pain or discomfort.
Oden first injured the wrist during the early stages of the state tournament this past season as Lawrence North was making its march to a second consecutive state title. He began putting a wrap around the wrist but aggravated the injury in the title game.
"Greg landed on the wrist the first time and he began having an aching pain. Then he landed it on badly again," Scott said. "After that, we took a wait-and-see approach. They didn't exactly know what was wrong with it and he kept it in a stretch wrap. Once it became obvious that it wasn't healing properly, he decided to have surgery."
Scott said Oden isn't particularly concerned with the injury and he won't begin the physical part of his rehab for a "few more weeks." Right now, the big man is busy soaking up the life of a college freshman. He and former Lawrence North point guard and fellow five-star prospect Mike Conley both began summer classes at OSU on Monday.

"I saw Greg last week and he was very upbeat," Scott said. "He was very positive about everything and really excited about school. He couldn't wait to get on campus and start being a college student."
 
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SportingNews.com

7/11/06

Sifting through summer camp gossip
July 10, 2006


There were almost as many rumors bouncing around the Nike All-American Camp and Reebok ABCD Camp last week as there were basketballs. Coaches love their game, almost as much as they love to gossip.
These were my favorites of the whispers that passed through the stands as the two camps transpired.

In order:

1. Greg Oden won't play for Ohio State until the Big Ten tournament. Basis in fact on a 1-10 scale: 0. The amazing thing about this rumor is I heard it from at least six different coaches on the first day of the Nike Camp, and every one repeated it using exactly the same language. Nobody said he'd be out until March, or out for eight more months. They all said, "Big Ten tournament."
Anyway, Oden has been given a six-month timetable for his recovery from wrist surgery. That is considered to be the most pessimistic of scenarios, and he easily could beat that schedule. But until he is ready to go without risk of reinjury, he will not play. There is too much at stake.
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Hoops stars Oden, Charles named prep athletes of year

LOS ANGELES -- Basketball players Greg Oden of Indianapolis and Tina Charles of New York City were named High School Athletes of the Year on Wednesday.
Oden and Charles received their awards at a luncheon attended by Miami Heat stars Dwyane Wade and Alonzo Mourning and Matt Leinart of the Arizona Cardinals. Later, Oden and Charles were to attend the ESPY Awards in Hollywood.
Oden averaged 22 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks and shot 74 percent from the field last season in leading Lawrence North High to its third consecutive Indiana Class 4A state championship. He will play at Ohio State next season.
"It's great," said Oden, who was a nominee last year when he lost to football player Greg Paulus. "My one goal was to come back here and I feel honored to have won this award."
Charles averaged 26.5 points, 14.8 points and 5.2 blocked shots last season in leading Christ the King to its second consecutive undefeated season and the New York Class AA state title. She will play at Connecticut next season.
"I'm not used to this," Charles said. "I'm usually at basketball tournaments with other basketball players and may win awards there, but to be considered the best of the best in all different sports, it's great. It's a blessing."
Other nominees for the boys' award were football player Mitch Mustain of Springdale (Ark.) High; soccer player Eric Alexander of Portage Central (Mich.) High; baseball player Clayton Kershaw of Highland Park (Texas) High; and track and field athlete David Klech of California High in San Ramon, Calif.
Other girls' nominees were volleyball player Megan Hodge of Riverside High in Durham, N.C.; soccer player Lauren Cheney of Ben Davis High in Indianapolis; softball player Kirsten Shortridge of Keller (Texas) High; and track and field athlete Bianca Knight of Ridgeland (Miss.) High.
The fourth annual awards are sponsored by Gatorade. The top overall male and female winners are chosen from 10 national players of the year honored during the high school sports season.
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/news/story?id=2517581
 
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What bad luck for him and us fans. The most storied recruit ever to come to OSU and we will not be able to see him play for the whole season. In the interview today I thought he said he would be out 6 months after they remove the screws in the future.... That seems like a long time. I hope we can see him play before the Big Ten tournament too :-/
 
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That makes a lot more sense. When I had screws removed from my wrist it was about 4 weeks and I was full go. I actually was ready 2 weeks afterwards but the Dr. was very cautious. I am sure his Dr's will be too especially since the kids talents are worth MILLIONS in next years draft.

Well regardless I hope therapy goes well for him and he recovers well. Besides him working on his left might not be the worst thing in the world either....lol
 
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